Disease Detector

Biolom co-founders Cihan Yilmaz (left), Asanterabi Malima (middle), and Jaydev Upponi presented their work at NEXPO, Northeastern’s Entrepreneurship Expo, where they also met with potential investors.

Faster, better, cheaper. Those three words are the Holy Grail in new-product development, especially in the healthcare field. All three describe Biolom’s miniaturized sensors, which aim to rapidly detect cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other potentially lethal ailments.

In addition, these biosensors, developed by three recent Northeastern graduates, are meant to decrease the cost of detection, monitoring, and treatment, potentially resulting in higher survival rates and improved quality of health.

Biolom was founded by Asanterabi Malima, who received his doctorate in engineering in 2013; Cihan Yilmaz, who received a doctorate in mechanical engineering in 2013; and Jaydev Upponi, who earned a doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences in 2007.

The team received initial validation for their project in 2011, when it was named one of 10 finalists nationwide in the Prize for Primary Healthcare competition put on by the Boston-based Center for Integration of Medicine & Innovative Technology.

The umbrella of services offered by Northeastern’s Center for Research and Innovation offered additional support, as did IDEA, Northeastern’s venture accelerator, which provided $10,000 in gap funding to support clinical validation studies. Faculty members Marc Meyer, Dan Gregory, and Bob Lentz also connected Biolom with experts in in-vitro diagnostics.

According to Malima, the company is now raising venture capital for clinical trials.